Republican Party Over?

The end of the Republican Party came today with the refusal of Rep. Kevin McCarthy to accept the second highest office in the United States, that of Speaker of the House.  Mr. McCarthy, current House Majority Leader, admitted at a party function this afternoon that he was withdrawing his name because he could not get the votes.

Next to the President, the Speaker position is the second most powerful position in Washington DC.  It is akin to the Prime Minister in Britain, save that the UK does not have a President who shoulders the administrative tasks.

The fact that Mr. McCarthy cannot field the necessary votes is a signal that the Republican Party is cracked.  A vote comes up on December 11th whether to lift the debt ceiling of the United States.  If that vote does not pass, the United States cannot pass its budget and it shuts down and its employees start looking for jobs elsewhere.  The debt ceiling issue is the one that broke the Republican back.  It has caused John Boehner to resign as Speaker, and now McCarthy's withdrawal.

The inability of the party to come together on the minimal issue of its leadership  means that the Republican Party is no longer a symbol--a flag--that House Members can rally around.  None of the conservative members are electable, and alternatively, conservatives will stop the election of anyone else.  A frozen Majority Party means that either the country shuts down, or another party steps in.  Non-conservative factions of the once monolithic Republican Party must seek a coalition with Democrats, which means that the Republican entity crumbles.  

Mr. McCarthy was probably the most vanilla of candidates for the Speaker position.  If he is unable to muster a coalition, the Republican Party is permanently broken.  Whether the US goes to a three-party system remains to be seen; however the Republican brand, born in Ripon WI, in 1854, will be gone.  Replacing it will be the Democrats, the Moderate Republicans and the Conservative Republicans.  Of course, the Democrats--already having superior numbers over the whole Republican Party--will overwhelm the remain splinters of the Republicans.

Looming is the pending government shutdown in December.  Stay tuned.

Every time you think you've spotted all the major fault lines in this party, you discover another. The Christian Right works nice with the big-business libertarians -- but wait, the CR actually supports a number of social welfare programs. The outsiders like Trump must gel well with the Rand Paul types, right? Wait, Trump hates Latino immigrants while Paul reaches out to them.

The Tea Party believes in individual liberties like the libertarians, right? Wrong, they're pissed off about gay marriage and abortion. But surely they all agree on stopping illegal immigration? Wrong, very quietly many big-money donors like the status quo because it provides cheap, timid labor.

It's a mess held together with talking points and a shared hatred of Obama. In fact, the only thing Republicans are united on is the notion that Democrats aren't merely the opposition, they're the enemy.

I read yesterday that the GOP will start impeachment proceedings against Hillary the first day if she's elected President. That will be another government gridlock, waste of taxpayers money and will be futile in the end. They are the dumbest POS assholes in the universe.

Lurker wrote:I read yesterday that the GOP will start impeachment proceedings against Hillary the first day if she's elected President. That will be another government gridlock, waste of taxpayers money and will be futile in the end. They are the dumbest POS assholes in the universe.

Yeah Tom Delay mentioned that. Deja vu harking back to Boehner saying the same thing in 2008. They are a complete waste of space.

Thinkprogress wrote:Impeachment is not the removal of a president from office — rather, it’s the formal process of accusing a public official of unlawful activity, which may or may not lead to removal from office.

Republicans have not bothered with stating the charge. May I suggest that she is guilty of the "high crime" of giving a shit about them.

Original Quill wrote:

Thinkprogress wrote:Impeachment is not the removal of a president from office — rather, it’s the formal process of accusing a public official of unlawful activity, which may or may not lead to removal from office.

Republicans have not bothered with stating the charge.  May I suggest that she is guilty of the "high crime" of giving a shit about them.

Yeah, that's pretty amazing -- the president can only be impeached for high crimes and treason committed while *actually being the president*. They're going to have to hope she gets up to some treason shortly after the inauguration ceremony

Republicans are conservatives; always remember: conservatives don't think. They process in stunted epithets and platitudes.

To figure out that one must be in office in order to be impeached is a step too far. This is a classic example of what I'be been telling conservatives about themselves all along.

As John Stuart Mill said, I did not mean that Conservatives are generally stupid; I meant that stupid persons are generally Conservative.

If there is no difference, why are the Republicans so full of hate towards our great President? I see the Republican Party as the party of hate, discrimination and just plain ignorance about every damn thing. So your meme is dumb and incorrect.

Lurker wrote:If there is no difference, why are the Republicans so full of hate towards our great President? I see the Republican Party as the party of hate, discrimination and just plain ignorance about every damn thing. So your meme is dumb and incorrect.

Oh yes, and I forgot...they are racists, too.  

No. They're the same.

IndependentThoughts wrote:

That's a good one

veya_victaous wrote:

IndependentThoughts wrote:

That's a good one

If you believed it. (1) Republicans don't have dicks. And (2) Dems have no incentive to lie, whereas for Republicans the whole thing is a snake oil sale.

Dems have the same incentive as everyone else MONEY

if you don't think so then you are naive
no side is actually 'good'
both sides are funded by the corpocracy 
that is just a fact of life when Politicians are greedy monkeys.

Vote #1 Skynet

veya_victaous wrote:Dems have the same incentive as everyone else MONEY

if you don't think so then you are naive
no side is actually 'good'
both sides are funded by the corpocracy 
that is just a fact of life when Politicians are greedy monkeys.

Vote #1 Skynet

With all due respect -- the Republicans would never have passed any kind of healthcare reform, which actually has saved lives.

The Republicans would never have allowed same-sex marriage to become the law of the land if there was any way they could have stopped it.

We don't hear any Republican asking for common-sense restrictions on firearms. We don't have any Republicans arguing that corporations aren't people.

All this "they're the same" crap is oversimplified and/or superficial analysis, mainly created by disgruntled Republicans who are angry that conservatives haven't declared actual war on liberals yet.

window dressing that can be thrown aside, when your rights have been voted away.

Obama has done more damage to the world's freedom than Bush. He openly supports economic dogma with the policies he pursues internationally that is as disgusting evil as ISIS religious dogma.

If Obama didn't believe that Corporations should have Greater rights than people WHY is he forcing it onto other nations via the TPP.

If Obama Gave A shit About Health Care than Why is forcing us to remove our Pharmaceutical Protections so that Pharmaceutical companies can charge more.

If Obama Gave a shit About human rights why is he creating conditions that will allow virtual slavery of third world laborers by large western corporations.

Obama is the One Pushing this TPP shit that is more or less and open attempt by the Corpocarcy to subvert democracy Permanently. literally create and avenue by which they were beholden to no democratic government and override local democratic governments.

Obama has increased Electronic surveillance on World Citizens and removed transparency from administration and governments accountability. 


ISIS probably exists to hide the Corporate take over of democracy 

veya_victaous wrote:window dressing that can be thrown aside, when your rights have been voted away.

Obama has done more damage to the world's freedom than Bush. He openly supports economic dogma with the policies he pursues internationally that is as disgusting evil as ISIS religious dogma.

If Obama didn't believe that Corporations should have Greater rights than people WHY is he forcing it onto other nations via the TPP.

If Obama Gave A shit About Health Care than Why is forcing us to remove our Pharmaceutical Protections so that Pharmaceutical companies can charge more.

If Obama Gave a shit About human rights why is he creating conditions that will allow virtual slavery of third world laborers by large western corporations.

Obama is the One Pushing this TPP shit that is more or less and open attempt by the Corpocarcy to subvert democracy Permanently. literally create and avenue by which they were beholden to no democratic government and override local democratic governments.

Obama has increased Electronic surveillance on World Citizens and removed transparency from administration and governments accountability. 


ISIS probably exists to hide the Corporate take over of democracy 

I worry about you sometimes, veya. You're not even grounded. You're like...and the evil government of Antarctica is running it all!

You have to love Taiwanese commentary of US politics




"Now Trump Pretended to be Republican, destroy GOP, dance to White house "

Seem pretty accurate

Rupert Murdock doesn't live in Antarctica  

and You mean I treat both sides with Equal Contempt...
I Live in a Vassal nation so See first hand how democracy is subverted by the economic interests of the few... that often are not even Citizens.

This graph Did not happen by accident and didn't require some great plan.. it is just the cumulative result of generation after generation of greedy violent apes trying to dominate each other for the resources of this rock. And when SO much wealth is in So few hands to think they would not be doing all they can to protect it is naive.


the difference between the sides is like Ben said..... at least the Window dressing on the left is kindness and not hatred like it is on the right 

I agree with you about the wealth issue.

It's just sometimes your notion of cause and effect can be a little...shall we say, circuitous?

Anyone who would even consider putting their life in the hands of Donald Trump has to be certifiable.

Unheard of in American history:  

CNN wrote:Conservatives say Trump talk is fascist

(CNN)Conservative warnings about Donald Trump have grown increasingly somber. At first he was just an entertainer; then he became a worrisome distraction, and soon, there was fear that he would permanently scar the reputation of the Republican Party.

But it was after Trump started calling for stronger surveillance of Muslim-Americans in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks that a handful of conservatives ventured to call Trump's rhetoric something much more dangerous: fascism.

Since launching his campaign this summer, the billionaire real estate magnate has regularly deployed inflammatory rhetoric about immigrants -- particularly regarding Latinos -- and repeatedly raised the alarm about foreigners entering the country. That has escalated following the series of shooting rampages and explosions in Paris this month allegedly perpetrated by ISIS and amid a national debate over accepting Syrian refugees.

Most striking has been Trump's aim at Muslims in the United States. He's been widely denounced for claiming that people in New Jersey — a state with "large Arab populations," he said — cheered after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. That, coupled with his seeming endorsement of a national registry to track Muslims in the country, has sparked a new level of condemnation from conservatives already on edge about Trump's endurance.

"Trump is a fascist. And that's not a term I use loosely or often. But he's earned it," tweeted Max Boot, a conservative fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who is advising Marco Rubio.

Calling your own party member a fascist is pretty heady stuff.  Republicans for years have been racist, anti-immigration, anti-women, anti-democratic, anti-Hispanic, and anti-middle class...but when you put it all together in one package, they don't like what it spells: FASCISM.

All roosters come home to roost.  Donald Trump puts it all together for the conservatives.  A few RW people with rational capabilities can see where this is going...and so now they are complaining.  The problem is--and this is a flaw that I have warned about, over and over--the conservative mind is dogmatic, and not capable of intellectual exploration on its own. To say they are out of practice would be kind.  In simpler terms, Trump's followers are the stupid ones.  Like a train without an engineer, they are set on a course and they have no idea where they are, or where they are going to end up.

Maybe chicken-little was right.

The Republican Party is Hitler's 4th Reich.

The very idea of bilateralism--they all do it, same for both sides--was itself a defense put up by the Republicans during the spoilation arguments of the late-1880's and 1890's. Republican James Blaine wanted to pass out appointments for political rewards, whereas the Mugwumps wanted to reform the system. Blaine's response was to invoke the bilateralist argument...they all do it, why not us?

The Civil Service Act was proof that it doesn't have to be that way. But, the argument has been a convenient tool for conservatives ever since.

Even if the differences are minor, it would be immoral of me to let a party that's 95 percent wrong/evil win because I won't vote for the party that's 90 percent wrong/evil. It's also foolish -- you don't hold your breath until you die because there's a bad smell in the room.

Ben_Reilly wrote:Even if the differences are minor, it would be immoral of me to let a party that's 95 percent wrong/evil win because I won't vote for the party that's 90 percent wrong/evil. It's also foolish -- you don't hold your breath until you die because there's a bad smell in the room.

I agree.  And I think most people think the same way.  

We are hearing all of this inflammatory rhetoric because we are in the primary cycle, and the candidates are talking to their base.  But, it so far right that I doubt the Republicans can ever get back in line with mainstream America.  They have dug themselves into a deep ditch.

Original Quill wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:Even if the differences are minor, it would be immoral of me to let a party that's 95 percent wrong/evil win because I won't vote for the party that's 90 percent wrong/evil. It's also foolish -- you don't hold your breath until you die because there's a bad smell in the room.

I agree.  And I think most people think the same way.  

We are hearing all of this inflammatory rhetoric because we are in the primary cycle, and the candidates are talking to their base.  But, it so far right that I doubt the Republicans can ever get back in line with mainstream America.  They have dug themselves into a deep ditch.

I believe it was Peggy Noonan who said that the GOP lost touch with the pulse of America as of the 2008 presidential election. If they don't tear themselves apart soon, they only have to wait for Democratic voters to realize that midterms matter, too

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Original Quill wrote:

I agree.  And I think most people think the same way.  

We are hearing all of this inflammatory rhetoric because we are in the primary cycle, and the candidates are talking to their base.  But, it so far right that I doubt the Republicans can ever get back in line with mainstream America.  They have dug themselves into a deep ditch.

I believe it was Peggy Noonan who said that the GOP lost touch with the pulse of America as of the 2008 presidential election. If they don't tear themselves apart soon, they only have to wait for Democratic voters to realize that midterms matter, too

The reason why 2008 was a watershed election was because Republicans had to face their own racism. That's a difficult thing to do. First, you want to avoid the fact that you have any racism. Then, you need a dose of reduction of cognitive dissonance as to why you feel the way you do about a black president.

All of this Republican squirreliness we've been seeing is an attempt to find fault with a black president, yet deny it's racism. It's a point of fact that he has been a pretty damn good president. So...all of this nonsense about emails and Benghazi are attempts to find traction with something...anything, to justify their hatred (other than race).

The psychological insecurity this has produced has resulted in a kind of mass hysteria...casting about to find something...anything, to express how you feel (other than race). With some elements, it has resulted in a Oh fuck it! attitude, that has produced ridiculous clowns like Donald Trump and Ben Carson. In other words...something...anything.